First the bad news: the Shariah-Compliant Finance industry continues to grow worldwide. This is bad news for a variety of reasons, particularly these two:

+ The purpose of Shariah-Compliant Finance is to serve as “missionary work” to spread Shariah. So, when Shariah-Compliant Finance grows, Shariah spreads. Because Shariah is a barbaric, brutal and inherently aggressive doctrine, its spread is a very bad thing.

+ The expansion of Shariah-Compliant Finance means more money for Jihad. Zakat, the third pillar of Islam, is the required tithing in Islam involving charitable donations. Unfortunately, as detailed in “The Reliance of the Traveler” the classic manual of Islamic law, on page 272, section h8.17, one of the required destinations for zakat payments is described as “THOSE FIGHTING FOR ALLAH.”

This is why groups like HAMAS, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and the Taliban have all received zakat funding in the past–and continue to do so today.

Now, on to the good news, as detailed in the article linked below in Bahrain’s “Gulf Daily News,” there has been a slowdown in growth in the Shariah-Compliant Finance industry as Islamic indices have performed poorly worldwide.

A total of 25 Islamic funds were liquidated last year and the first quarter of this year. Just 18 were liquidated in all of 2006 and 2007 combined.

The number of new funds launched has dropped from 271 in 2006 and 2007 to only 89 last year and first quarter of this year.

How bad was the performance of the Shariah-Compliant Finance industry? The average return from Islamic equity funds in 2008 was negative 39%.

Despite this evidence, promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance, particularly its Western promoters, continue the fraudulent claim that Shariah-compliance provides some sort of safe haven against crisis and economic downturns.